Libya wins mobile licence for Côte d’Ivoire

Libyan government owns company that will be fourth mobile operator in Côte d’Ivoire

The Libyan government’s telecoms investment company has won the fourth mobile operating licence from Côte d’Ivoire in west Africa.

The new operator will compete against Maroc Telecom’s Moov, MTN and Orange, which already have licences – after the Ivorian government withdrew other operators’ licences in March 2016.

The fourth licence has gone to the Libyan Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Holding Company (LPTIC), successor to LAP GreenN, the government telecoms holding company that dates from the Gaddafi regime.

LAP GreenN had a previous licence in Côte d’Ivoire, trading under the name Oricel Green, and LPTIC applied to the government for a new, unified licence earlier in 2016.

According to the Libya Herald, LPTIC owns all the main state telecoms companies in Libya including the two main state mobile operators Libyana and Al-Madar, as well as the main state internet provider Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT) and a number of other investments.

The old LAP GreenN had other operations in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zamtel in Zambia, bought from the Zambian government in 2010 but seized back by a successor government in 2012. Libya still owns 69% of Uganda Telecoms.

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